HBO Documentary Films has picked up US television rights to “Pussy Riot — A Punk Prayer” at the Sundance Film Festival. The film, directed by Mike Lerner and Maxim Pozdorovkin, had its world premiere in Park City on January 18.

The documentary tells the story of Nadia Tolokonniokova, Masha Alyokhina and Katya Samutsevich, members of the feminist art collective Pussy Riot who performed a 40-second “punk prayer” inside Russia’s main cathedral wearing colored balaclavas, tights and summer dresses. The women were arrested on charges of religious hatred. Their “show” trial, which began in July 2012, has reverberated around the world. While Nadia and Masha remain imprisoned, Katya has been released and participated in a Skype Q&A following the film’s Sundance debut.

THR states in their review, “Despite some shortcomings, ‘Pussy Riot’ remains a significant contribution to the ongoing dialogue assessing the current state of Russian society and culture, as well as the sometimes tenuous status of free speech in the free world.”